Forgotten Key
by AutumnHills10
Summary: We had been captured. I hate to admit it, but it's true. ALL of us had been captured. And they had made a deal with each other. Four of them and four of us. But do you know what the worse part is? It's that I don't even know if my brothers are still alive- or sane. This, who ever you may be, is the story of how we broke. Of how the key to our chains was forgotten.
1. A Block Away

**Forgotten Key**

 **We had been captured. I hate to admit it, but it's true. And what make's matters worse is that we had ALL been captured. And they had made a deal with each other. There were four of them and four of us. One for each of them. But do you know what the worst part is? It's that I don't even know if my brothers were still alive- or sane. This, who ever you may be, is the story of how we broke. Of how the key to our chains was forgotten.**

* * *

Forgotten Key

* * *

 _Chapter One:_

 _A Block Away_

* * *

Leonardo's head pounded against his skull. He didn't want to wake up. He wan't to stay in the blissfulness of painless sleep.

But someone was poking him, nudging his cheek, whispering things he couldn't make out. He strained his ears.

"... eo... ake... up..."

He blinked open his eyes, only to come face to face with none other than his immediate younger brother, Raphael. The turtle in red smiled in relief, before sitting back on his heel's to allow the other turtle to sit up.

As Leo's head slowly stopped pounding and came to a dull throb, he looked around. He was in what seemed to be a giant pet turtle cage.

There was a small pound in the corner and the ground was made out of gravel and sand. There was a water tube, one that pet hamsters would have, in the corner. Rocks were scattered around, to small for them to hide behind but to big for any of them to carry. A glass wall separated them from what looked like- Leo felt a horrible jolt in his stomach- Stockman's lab.

Donatello was a little ways away, his olive skin dotted with purple bruise's and cuts, looking around their cage for any possible means of escape. Michelangelo sat next to Raph, both who were covered in bruise's and cuts too, looking around uneasily. He didn't seem to like their new living arrangements.

Leo swallowed. Now he remembered.

 _The four turtles ran across the roof tops, jumping after each other, the night air whipping at their faces._

 _They came to a halt._

 _"We should be heading back." Leo said. It was nearly twelve, two hours longer than they usually stay out. He didn't want Master Splinter to start worrying._

 _The group began to make their way to the closest manhole. But they never quite made it._

 _Tiger Claw flew down, pistols in hand, and suddenly they were surrounded by Foot Bots, Razhar, Fishface, Buzzkill and the Mind Controlled Karai._

 _"Oh, great." Raph said, grinning and drawing his sai. "This night_ had _been a little too dull for my liking."_

 _They charged._

 _Raph, like usual, took Fishface. Leo took Tiger Claw and Karai, Donnie took Stockman, and Mikey took Razhar._

 _They were doing fine at first, but then the Foot Bots began getting in the way. Like, a lot._

 _Razhar swung his claws at Mikey's chest, who blocked with his nunchaku. But then a Foot Bot jumped onto his back and suddenly he was being tackled to the ground by the stupid things._

 _"_ Mikey _!" Raph shouted, noticing his youngest brother was in a bit of a twist. He dodged Fishface's kick and tried to get towards the turtle in orange, but his way was blocked by Foot Bots and Fishface. With no other choice, Raph kept on fighting._

 _Razhar picked Mikey up by the leg's, hanging him upside down._

 _"Put me down!" Mikey shouted, trying to twist out of Razhar's grasp._

 _"Alright then." the mutant skeletal dog growled, face twisted into what must have been an evil smile. And he threw Mikey off the building._

 _"_ MIKEY! _" screamed the older brothers._

 _Donnie punched Buzzkill in the face so hard the fly mutant fell to the ground. He tried to run to where Mikey had fallen, but his way was blocked by Foot Bots. They just kept on coming..._

 _Mikey groaned, getting onto his hands and knee's. Blood dripped from a cut on his arm. Razhar jumped down from the building, landing in front of the young turtle._

 _He raised his fist and punched Mikey right in the face. And he blacked out._

 _Raph was having a little trouble with Fishface and the Foot Bots, so desperate was he to get to the youngest brother. A Foot Bot blocked his attack and suddenly his sai was spinning out of his hand. He turned around just in time to see the metal foot before it slammed smack-damn into his face._

 _Donnie gasped, watching as the second oldest fell to the ground, lip burst and bleeding, unconscious. He payed for his moment of distraction. Buzzkill blew a dart at him and it hit Donnie right in the neck. His vision began to swim as the serum was injected into him. His fell to the ground._

 _"_ DONNIE! RAPH! MIKEY! _" yelled the only remaining turtle. He had been having a tough time fighting_ both _Karai and Tiger Claw at the same time, not to mention the thousand of Foot Bots._

 _Razhar jumped back onto the building, the knocked out Mikey over his shoulder. He held the young turtle up by the shell for all eyes to see and placed one of his claws to his neck._

 _"Drop your weapons, turtle." Razhar growled merrily. He seemed to be enjoying himself rather immensely. "Or your brothers die."_

 _And just like that, Fishface was holding a dagger to Raph's neck and Buzzkill, buzzing nervously, was holding his clawed hand to Donnie's throat._

 _Leo looked around him. He was outnumbered. One to ten._

 _He dropped his swords. And Tiger Claw hit him in the back of his head with the butt of his pistol._

 _Everything went black._

 _And so the four turtles were captured, only a block away from the nearest manhole._

 _Only a block away from safety... from their father..._

Leo slowly stumbled to his feet, with a little help from Raph.

"Are you guys okay?" the turtle in blue asked, looking at his brothers in concern, especially Mikey.

"We're fine." Raph said. "Just a few bumps and bruise's."

"Mikey was thrown off a roof." Leo pointed out, anger raging in his chest.

Said turtle winced. "Don't remind me. But I'm okay. Just some cuts."

The oldest turtle looked at the youngest in disbelief, before looking around to Donnie.

"What about you?"

"What? Oh, yeah I'm fine. Just trying to find a way out of here." Donnie placed his hands on the walls, trying to find a loose brick or a hidden hole.

As you could guess, he found nothing.

"Don't bother." said a deep voice, making the four turtles jump. They spun on their heel's to see the Shredder standing on the other side of the glass wall. "I've had this cell checked ten times over to make sure there was no possible way of escape."

"Paranoid, aren't we?" Raph mocked.

Shredder glared, but decided not to answer. Though he wouldn't admit it, he _was_ a tiny bit paranoid. He looked over his shoulder at someone out of the turtle's line of sight. "Hurry up and pick one. The others will be here soon."

And out of the shadows came the Kraang.

 _The Shredder sat at the head table, looking over the one's he had assembled._

 _Hun and three of his Purple Dragon's_ _ **(Very sorry, but I can't remember their name's. Care to help?)** sat on the right side of the table and on the left were the Kraang. _

_"So do we have a deal?" Shredder asked._

 _The three Kraang droids- which were two of the male's in the black suits and the Irma bot- looked at each other. Irma looked at Shredder and nodded. "We have a deal."_

 _"As do we." Hun agreed. "But what of the fourth?"_

 _"I know exactly what to do with the fourth." Shredder said._

The Turtles gasped, instinctively going for their weapons, only to find them gone.

"Which one?" the Shredder asked.

Irma studied the turtles, looking them over.

" _We_ want the purple one." Hun butted in, rudely pushing past the Kraang.

"Excuse me?" Donnie said, leaning back in shock.

Raph stood in front of Donnie and Mikey protectively, Leo doing the same with him.

Irma looked at Hun for a moment, before gazing back at the turtles. "We'll take the red one."

Leo gripped Raph's arm, who's eyes had widened before narrowing. The oldest turtle reached over and gripped Donnie's arm with his other hand, and gently pressed the back of his shell against Mikey's plastron.

"Very well." the Shredder said. He nodded at Razhar and Fishface.

Stockman pressed a button and the glass wall opened. Razhar and Fishface entered. Raph and Leo raised their fists in a fighting position. It was their only weapon, though they knew it was useless.

Razhar grinned and knocked Leo into Raph with one swipe, sending the brothers to the other side of the cell.

"Leo! Raph!" Donnie shouted, but Fishface had already grabbed him and was dragging him out. "Let me go!" He began to struggle, trying to get out of the fish's grip.

"Stay- still-" Fishface grunted, before Donnie elbowed him in the face.

Hun began to tap his foot impatiently, completely uninterested in the fight taking place in the cell.

Growling in annoyance, Shredder walked forward and grabbed Mikey's shell, holding one of his swords to the turtles throat. All movement stopped.

"You two," he gestured with his head at Leo and Raph, who had gotten up and joined the fight. "Back up to the far wall."

Hesitating for a split second, the two oldest began to back away until their shell's pressed against the far wall.

Razhar grabbed Donnie by the arms and dragged him out. They stopped in front of Hun. Donnie glared at him.

Seeming unimpressed, Hun looked at the skeletal dog. "Put him in the cage." he pointed at a large dog carrier, probably made for a full grown German Shepard. Donnie gaped.

Before he could react or fight back, the purple wearing turtle suddenly found himself being shoved inside the dog crate, the metal barred door slamming shut behind him. He could barely move.

"Donnie!" Raph growled, his hands turning into angry fists. How _dare_ they put his little brother in a _dog crate!_

But then he found himself being grabbed by Fishface. He tried to struggle out of his grip, but then Shredder pressed his sword into Mikey's neck, drawing blood. Raph swallowed and stopped struggling.

And so Leo and Mikey watched, helplessly, as Raph was put in a glass tube-cage, like the one the Mighty Mutanimals had been trapped in during the Battle for New York, but smaller.

The three Purple Dragons picked up Donnie's dog carrier and lugged it after Hun. Raph's cage began to hover an inch above the ground and it followed Irma and the two Kraang out of the lab.

Shredder began to drag Mikey out of the cell.

"Wait! What are you doing?!" Leo called out, his blood running cold. He took a step towards them, but Shredder was already out of the cell and Stockman pressed the button, closing the glass.

Leo ran up to it, pressing his palms against the glass, looking helplessly into the wide, terrified eyes of his baby brother.

"Please! Don't take him!"

But the Shredder only laughed and walked out of the lab, Mikey looking over his shoulder at Leo before he vanished from view.

Leo shrank to the floor, trembling. Stockman buzzed after Shredder, taking one last glance at Leo. The lights went out.

He was alone.

* * *

Michelangelo tried very hard not to show any fear. But he couldn't stop his hands from shaking.

Where was Shredder taking him? What was going to happen to his brothers? Would they be able to escape? Will Sensai come for them? Surely he would have noticed something was wrong by now.

Mikey was pushed into a cell. There was nothing in there beside's some shackles attached to the wall. The door was made out of heavy metal.

Shredder pushed the young turtle to the ground and chained him to the wall with the shackles. Mikey struggled weakly. Shredder walked out of the room.

"When will they be here?" he asked Buzzkill.

"In two hourzzzz." answered Stockman.

"Good."

And the large metal door slammed shut behind him, leaving Mikey in pitch blackness.

Tears stung his eyes and his breathing came out in sort gasps. He'd always hated the dark.

Mikey closed his eyes and brought his knee's to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs, the chains clanking. He buried his head in his knee's.

He wanted his brothers.

And surely, _surely_ Master Splinter was searching for them at that very moment.

* * *

But Mikey was wrong.

For Master Splinter had fallen asleep earlier than usual. So he snoozed on, unaware that come tomorrow, he would awake to find the lair strangely quiet. He would walk into the kitchen, expecting his youngest son to be making breakfast, singing along to his music. Expecting he would see his second youngest drinking coffee, chatting away to his oldest about his new invention. And expecting he would see his second oldest rolling his eyes at his brothers, but with a very small, almost unnoticeable smile on his lips.

But when he finds that they are not there, he will search their rooms. He will search the sewers. He will call April and Casey and they will search all day. He will call the Mighty Mutanimals and they will search all night.

He would search and search, until he finds their blood on the rooftop where the were ambushed.

But until then, he snoozed on. Blissfully unaware that they had been but a block away. Blissfully unaware that he would not see his precious boy's for six _long_ months...

* * *

 **This weekend or Monday, _Lost Life_ will be updated. :D**


	2. Barely Started

**Forgotten Key**

 _by AutumnHills10_

* * *

Chapter Two:

Barely Started

* * *

When Raphael woke, he was not in the hovering tube. Instead, he was strapped down to a metal table, his wrists and ankles held down by thick shackles. He distantly remembered being forced to breath the Kraang air so he would get knocked out.

He looked around. He was in a room full of Kraang computers, but with no Kraang.

Before he could even think about escaping, the door slid open and about five Kraang droids walked in. So much for there being no Kraang. Raph glared at them, fury rising in his chest.

The robotic alien's seemed completely unfazed and crowded around the stone table where the turtle was strapped to.

"Prepare the operation that is the operation that we are to do in this place on the turtle known as Raphael." one said.

Raph's glared hardened. Operation? What operation? He wasn't going to let these stupid aliens do any kind of operation on him!

The turtle in red began to struggle, his green eyes narrowed and his movements fueled by rage. Rage of how they'd been captured, of how he'd been separated from his brothers, of how he couldn't protect them. But it was no use. Even his rage could not break the heavy metal shackles that bind him.

A Kraang walked up to the table and took a black marker off a silver tray sitting on a wheeled table. Raph's frowned in confusion.

The Kraang droid pressed the marker to his right forearm and began to draw a zig-zag, starting a little ways from his elbow until it _just_ touched his wrist. The Kraang droid capped the marker and put it away.

And then another Kraang picked a scalpel from the silver tray. Raph's blood went cold, but he didn't show it and he glared all the harder. He gave one last, useless tug at the shackles.

The Kraang droid pressed the tip of the scalpel to the beginning of the zig-zag, near his elbow, and very slowly began to make a deep cut. Raph bit his tongue, wincing.

The Kraang droid was purposefully making the progress slow and painful and, if they had the ability, Raph knew they would be smiling a sick, twisted, evil smile.

When the Kraang took the blood covered scalpel away and sat it in a small tray of water to wash the blood off, Raph looked down at his forearm. It was covered in his crimson blood.

Raph glared at the Kraang droid's again, his face twisted into a down right _I-am-so-gonna-kill-you-slowly-and-very-painfully_ look. Another Kraang picked up a little instrument, one Raph recognized but didn't know the name of. But he knew it was meant for opening wounds, like that time Leo had gotten shot and Donnie had to open the wound with the instrument to get the bullet out.

The Kraang droid opened his wound and Raph had to bite his tongue again to stop himself from making a sound. He wouldn't give them any satisfaction. And he was still determined to not let them "operate" on him. Though he wasn't really sure how he could get out of this one...

Another Kraang droid stuck it's robotic fingers into the turtles wound and Raph felt a shudder go down his spine as it began poking at his revealed muscles and prodding at his vain's.

Raph bit into his tongue and suddenly had a coppery taste in his mouth. He refused to make a sound and blinked away the wetness creeping at the corners of his eyes. The Kraang droid's ignored his useless struggle's and continued with their _operation_. Raph was awake the whole time.

Not once did they give him anything for the pain.

* * *

Michelangelo blinked as his eyes stung from the sudden light from the hallway as the heavy metal door opened for the first time in- wait, how long had he been in here? It felt like days...

The Shredder walked in, head held high as always. But he wasn't wearing his armor like Mikey would have expected.

Shredder wore a black suit with a red tie and shiny black shoe's. He didn't wear his Kuro Kabuto, so his scarred face was shown for all the world to see. This only made him look even more terrifying.

Behind him came the mind controlled Karai, in human form, also not wearing her armor. Instead she wore the jeans and black leather jacket she wore when she first met April.

At first, Mikey was confused- and then his blood turned to ice.

A man, probably in his late thirty's or early forty's, entered behind Shredder and Karai. He had neat brown hair, a square jaw and dark- almost black- brown eyes. He wore small spectacles and a white lab coat.

"This is it, Dr. Jay." the Shredder said, pointing at me. I glared.

Dr. Jay gasped in astonishment, his eyes wide with wonder and delight. "Marvelous." he muttered, studying the youngest turtle. He took a step forward.

"Get away from me!" Mikey hissed. He didn't like the spark in Dr. Jay's eye. It was... greed. Insanity.

Dr. Jay gasped, his hand going up to his mouth, which was forming a perfect 'O.' "It _talks!_ "

 _It._

Mikey felt a stab of pain in his heart. Was that all he was to this man? An 'it' that he could study? An 'it', as if he had no emotion- no mind?

"This could be the world's _greatest_ discovery!" Dr. Jay exclaimed, turning to Shredder. "I'll give you anything you want for it!"

Mikey couldn't hold back the gasp.

"You know what I want." The Shredder said. He glanced at Mikey and gave him an evil smirk.

"Yes, yes, of course." Dr. Jay said. Shredder was a full head taller than him. "Just have your- ah- _workers_ pack it up for me."

The Shredder nodded and they left Mikey's cell. Karai gave the turtle a long piercing look.

"Karai... Miwa... sis..." Mikey said, looking at her with wide pleading eyes.

Karai kept her face expressionless, before turning and following the Shredder.

The metal door slammed shut behind her and Mikey was once again left in total blackness.

* * *

To say Leonardo was angry would be an understatement. He was blinking _furious._

The oldest brother had been looking around the giant pet turtle cage for three hours now, looking for _anything_ that could help him escape and find his brothers. Three hours since they'd taken Raph, Donnie and Mikey and Leo's head was still spinning with crazy, panicked thoughts.

Since all the lights were out in the lab, it was a little hard to see. He had thought of hiding in the pond and waiting for someone to open the glass wall, but quickly realized that it wasn't deep enough. The walls were slick, so climbing (though he wasn't really sure how being able to climb the walls would help) was not an option. He'd tried digging but soon discovered that under the thick layer of sand and gravel was a very strong stone floor. He'd even tried digging in the pond, but eventually once again came to a stone floor. There were, of course, no windows or air vents- not even barred one's. Like Donnie, Leo had tried to find some sort of loose brick, to no avail. He'd even checked the water bottle and the rocks. Raphael had sure been right- Shredder was one crazy, paranoid jerk.

Leo sighed, slumping down against one of the boulders. What was he to do?

He looked around his cage. Shredder had made sure that there was no escape. His three only hope's was for one of the guards to mess something up, him to come up with a brilliant plan or for Master Splinter to come for them.

He wondered what his brothers were going through.

Where they okay? Where they hurt? What could the Kraang and Purple Dragons want with Raph and Donnie? And- And Shredder was doing something to Mikey. Was he giving him away like he did with the others? But to who? Why wouldn't Shredder want to keep all of them?

What was his plan?

* * *

Donatello panted, his head resting against the cold floor. He was covered in cuts, bruise's and some nasty burns, but nothing life threatening.

"Look at it." Hun snarled, kicking him in the plastron. He was grinning. "Pathetic."

Donnie glared at the Purple Dragon leader and tried to climb to his feet. Hun kicked him in the shell and Donnie found himself sprawled on the floor again.

They laughed.

Wincing, the intelligent turtle got onto his hands and knee's and continued to glare at Hun and his stupid Purple Dragons. They'd been going at this for two hours. Donnie hadn't eaten since the pizza they'd had for dinner before going out on patrol... how long had that been? All the windows were covered and there wasn't a clock in here. Probably because none of them likely know how to tell time.

Donnie tried to climb to his feet again, to fight back and find his brothers. But he was chained to the floor by thick ropes that cut into his wrists and ankles. Hun kicked his head and Donnie felt the coppery taste of blood in his mouth. They laughed and when Don spat out some blood they only laughed the harder.

Humiliated and sore, wanting nothing more than to find his brothers and go home, back to their warm beds, pinball machine, his lab, April, Casey and Sensai.

He tried to get to his feet again, tugging at the thick ropes. This time, Hun did a round-house kick and hit Donnie in the back of the head. The purple wearing turtle was once again sprawled onto the cold floor.

He glared up at Hun, but only earned a kick in the face.

They laughed harder.

* * *

Master Splinter paced the lair, his hands wringing together nervously. They hadn't done that since he was, what, thirteen?

He remembered his annoyance when he'd realized that his sons were not in the kitchen, bright and early. He guessed they had stayed out later than usual and were still asleep.

Splinter had made himself his morning tea and gotten some cheese on toast to eat for breakfast, but when he had finished to find his sons were still not up, he'd gone to wake them. That's when the panic had settled in.

Leonardo, the one he'd went to wake up first, had not been in his bed. It was untouched, blankets spread neatly over the worn mattress, as if he hadn't even went to bed. Splinter had then gone to Raphael's room, only to find it in the same condition. And then Donatello. And finally Michelangelo.

All beds had not been slept in.

Splinter had remembered his panic and had began searching the sewers, calling for his sons. He searched until late into the afternoon until he decided to call Casey and April. They two had searched above ground, while Splinter continued to search the sewers.

When night had fallen and Casey and April were sent home because of their families (of course only to sneak out again to continue searching), Splinter had called the Mighty Mutanimals.

That had been three hours ago.

He had to find his sons. What if they were hurt? What if they were lost? What if they were stranded? Or worse?

Splinter shook his head, trying to keep the thought from entering his mind fully. He looked at his shrine and sat down before it, looking into the picture eyes of Tang Shen.

He bowed his head and clasped his hands together in a prayer. The first tear ran down his furry cheek.

* * *

 **Okay, the only reason Splinter isn't out there looking for his son's is because the Mutanimals had told him to go home and rest, to save his strength for tomorrow. The same happened with April and Casey.**

 **No one is going to die in this story, but there will be a lot of blood and possibly a few swear words. I'm just getting started and, just to make a few things clear for later chapters, nothing _too_ major will be permanent. You'll have to wait and see what I'm talking- er, _writing_ \- about. :)**

 _ **Lost Life**_ **will be updated by next Monday at the latest.**


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